2 children die in St. Louis County house fire

BERKELEY, Mo. (AP) — Two young brothers killed in a St. Louis County house fire Monday morning couldn’t get out because of a deadbolt lock on the front door, police said.

The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. in a small frame home in Berkeley occupied by a couple and their three children. Names and ages of the victims have not been released, but Berkeley Fire Chief Henry Williams said the victims were boys — one about age 2, the other age 4 or 5.

Police Maj. Art Jackson said the boys were found inside the dead-bolted front door.

“Most homes in this area have deadbolts on both doors,” Jackson said. Berkeley, near Lambert Airport, is a community of about 9,000 residents in a high-crime area of St. Louis County.

Jackson said the family awoke to find the house on fire. The father and mother got out through a bedroom window with an infant but all three were injured, Jackson said. He didn’t have specific details but said the father’s injuries were most severe, partly because he tried to go back into save his other children.

All three surviving family members were hospitalized but their conditions have not released. All three suffered burns and smoke inhalation, though the infant was doing better, Williams said.

Several space heaters were being used to heat the home but the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Berkeley fire officials and St. Louis County fire investigators were investigating the cause of the blaze.

“I would say that (use of space heaters) was probably one of the contributing factors,” Williams said.

The house was gutted. Heat from the fire was so intense that siding melted on the home next door, Jackson said.

Neighbors called 911 after spotting the fire.

“I looked out and saw the fire and yelled to my husband to call 911,” Lueverne Shotwell told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Oh my, there were babies inside.”